Out of Hibernation
by BabyBeaver
Summary: Not sure about the title. It makes sense if you read the story, kinda. Basically, I wanted to give Torpid a back story. There's pretty much nothing about her on FF, so I decided to write about how she came to be part of the Morlocks ranks.


**April 21; May 23; June 9, 2010**

**Tonight, on a whim, I decided to search the XME category for Torpid fics.**

**There are none.**

**This made me sad.**

**I liked Torpid in the few moments I saw her.**

**For those of you who don't know, Torpid is the mute Morlock with the swollen hands who can freeze a person for several hours if she touches them. She was created specifically for XME, probably to add to the Morlocks' numbers.**

**I'm totally making up her back story; Evo gives us no hints, so I'm taking liberties and making it up for her!**

**So anyway. I figured she needed a little love.**

**She only appears in 3.06, "X-Treme Measures" and 4.05, "Uprising," but I've always been curious about her. **

**Through a little Googling, I found that some believe she's not mute since she screams in 3.06, but I'm going on the assumption that, like Deaf people, Mute people can make sounds if they are distressed and/or try hard enough. (Thanks, ChaCha!)**

**Enough of my notes!**

* * *

Like most of the Morlocks, Torpid feared rejection from the Top-Siders.

Her appearance, her power, made people wary of her, and she didn't enjoy being stared at.

She had first encountered the Morlocks while hiding from a group of older students who had been tormenting her for the better part of a week. This right after her family had moved to Bayville to _get away from _people like that…

* * *

She was huddled next to a dumpster when a strange, frog-looking man walked over, oblivious to her presence, and unlocked the dumpster. It was as if he knew the combination by just looking at the lock!

She was startled by him, and tried to remain hidden even though he hadn't noticed her right away.

When he turned to leave, she made the mistake of scooting forward to peek at him.

Her foot bumped into the garbage can behind her, and it tumbled, which alerted him. He turned around quickly, cradling his stash of food protectively, and walked cautiously back over to the dumpster.

When he noticed her, he frowned in curiosity and held out a hand tentatively, asking, "What are you doing over here?"

Torpid didn't respond, just stared at him, and he started to speak again, only to be interrupted by a voice from below asking, "Lucid? Are you up here?"

He looked at her sadly as the owner of the voice had appeared behind him, peering over his shoulder at Torpid.

"Who's this?" the woman asked, curious and friendly.

"I don't know her name; she's been hiding back here for a while, I'd say."

Torpid looked at them nervously, her gaze bouncing back and forth from the frog man to the one-eyed woman.

"Hi," the woman said, kneeling down and holding out a hand. "My name's Callisto—and this is Lucid. What's your name?"

Torpid didn't reply, only stared back at her strange new acquaintances, and they exchanged curious glances.

"Is she Deaf, d'you think?" Callisto mused aloud, and Lucid shrugged. "Or Mute."

Callisto looked back at Torpid, her hand still extended as she encouraged, "It's all right; we're not going to hurt you."

Torpid blinked nervously, and then finally, slowly, placed one large, gloved hand in Callisto's smaller one.

Callisto and Lucid exchanged another glance, deciding, "Mute."

Torpid nodded, looking at them affirmatively, and they smiled.

"All right then," Callisto declared. "What's your name? Can you spell it out for us, maybe?"

Torpid frowned, taking off a glove and fingerspelling:

V-I-C-T-O-R-I-A.

It took a few more tries, but finally Callisto understood. "Victoria. It suits you. Well, Victoria, what are you doing out here? Where's your family?"

A few more attempts at signing later and Lucid determined, "She's left home because of persecution?"

A few more minutes of signing and he informed Callisto that "She can freeze people by touching them…"

Torpid nodded sadly, and Callisto asked, "Well then, Victoria, would you like to come join us? We have friends kind of like you—and we want the same thing you want: freedom."

Torpid looked back and forth between them, contemplating, and finally nodded happily, beaming.

"_Victoria_ doesn't really work for a Morlock codename, though," Lucid mused. "What about _Torpid_? It means dormant…"

Callisto smiled and looked at Victoria. "What do you think, Tor? Torpid sound all right?"

Again, she nodded, and Callisto smiled.

"Torpid it is, then!"

Lucid smiled but quickly grew wary of their surroundings and motioned for them to follow him back down the manhole.

* * *

Torpid had been afraid of the Morlocks at first, but once she realized they were all similar to her, she fell right into the lifestyle.

When Spyke had joined them, she had been fascinated by his appearance, and had found him to be a very caring person. She had latched onto him just as she had first done with Callisto, and now she considered him an elder brother.

The Morlocks were her family now, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

**Notes**: Ack. I really wanted to get this done with and posted, so I apologize if it's crappy.

I was going to do this in first person POV, but I felt like the way I was writing was too advanced for a girl around seven, as I think Torpid is. The general consensus is that she's between four and eight. I feel she's closer to seven or eight… But either way, I was writing way too old for her.

**Words:** 646

**Time:** As usual, way too long.

**Influences, Borrowed Ideas, and Other Random Crap**:

Ep 3.06, "X-Treme Measures" – Torpid is incredibly shy.

Ep 4.05, "Uprising" – Lucid was opening a dumpster for food; Torpid is cheerful as she offers Callisto fries, indicating she's been with them a while (obv since S3) and likes Callisto best, perhaps. And Callisto pats her on the head, which is adorable. I feel this indicates that she and Callisto have a special relationship.

Marvel's one website states that Lucid is probably in his 20s.

Dictionaries tell me that "torpid" means "lazy" or "sluggish." Does that make sense for our little Tor? On further research, two more definitions are "dormant" and "hibernating"—like her voice! Or her power...

I made up her real name based off of "Tor"—thus, "Victoria." Which means "victory," but… that doesn't really matter or have any bearing on her codename. Unless you squint and see "victory over Mutant haters" or something…


End file.
